CONNECT members have a wealth of experience and expertise and many are willing to provide mentorship to others, including peer-to-peer mentorship. Mentorship is not necessarily limited to 1-1 meetings but could also include undertaking a scholarly visit, internship or engaging in a research project as a means to gaining exposure and building networks with international researchers and their teams.
CONNECT members willing to provide mentorship opportunities highlight this within their CONNECT profile. All CONNECT member profiles can be found on: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/whri/research/connect/member-profile/
CONNECT is not currently in a position to fund visits and scholarly exchange opportunities. However, if visits cannot be funded through existing grants/fellowships at the mentee’s organisation, there are some other potential sources of funding that could be explored:
Dr Pedrosa's visit to Canada - January 19-April 19, 2023
Dr. Rafaela Pedrosa from UNICAMP Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil visited Canada this year for her visiting research fellowship hosted by Dr. Suzanne Fredericks, co-founder of CONNECT. The aims of this fellowship were to: 1. acquire knowledge in the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs and interventions; 2. engage in the conduct of clinical research; and 3. develop partnerships for future studies. Throughout her work with Dr. Fredericks, Dr. Pedrosa was introduced to Cardiac surgery internatiONal Nursing and alliEd professional researCh neTwork (CONNECT). Dr. Pedrosa led the implementation of a CONNECT social media intervention. She is currently collecting data and will lead the data analysis section of this study.
Of her visiting research fellowship, Dr. Pedrosa stated: “This experience contributed to the strengthening of my career as a researcher and professor, as it provided me with new knowledge in conducting clinical studies and establishing international partnerships, in addition to inserting me into CONNECT, which expanded my connection with the global community.”
Rosalie Magboo’s mentorship experience – July 3-8, 2022
Rosalie Magboo from St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, United Kingdom visited Canada last summer for her travelling fellowship hosted by Professor Suzanne Fredericks, co-founder of CONNECT. The aim of the fellowship was to establish collaboration with international centres and universities to further develop Rosalie’s PhD programme of work, which focuses on the health-related quality of life and psychosocial effects of the diagnosis and surgical interventions for aortovascular manifestations in Marfan syndrome (MFS) patients.
Through the fellowship, she had the opportunity to visit Toronto General Hospital to benchmark practice on the care of MFS patients undergoing aortovascular surgery. She also met several nursing experts in cardiac surgery and congenital heart disease and was able to build networks for potential collaborative works from the Toronto Metropolitan University, Brock University in Niagara and Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses (CCCN) as well as members of various patients’ organisations including the Aortic Dissection Canada and Genetic Aortic Disorders Association (GADA) Canada.
One of the immediate projects is the development of a psychosocial intervention based on the outcome of her study. This will potentially open up opportunities for other nurses to embark on a PhD study in both countries and encouraged them to pursue a clinical academic career.
Rosalie said, “The fellowship offered a truly exciting opportunity. I was fortunate to be mentored by clinical and academic experts in the field and was able to collaborate with high-calibre researchers to develop my post-doctoral work.”
Suzanne said, “Having the opportunity to spend time with Rosalie was a wonderful experience. Together we were able to discuss strategies that will build on and support existing and future research projects. Through our discussions, I was able to provide objective guidance and feedback based on my personal experiences, facilitate reflective thinking, and encourage Rosalie to think about different ways to pursue her own personal growth and learning”.
Sheila O’Keefe-McCarthy and Karyn Taplay visit to St Bartholomew’s Hospital
In the week celebrating the 900th anniversary of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Dr Sheila O’Keefe-McCarthy and Dr Karyn Taplay from Brock University, Canada visited St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London UK to showcase their work: Arts-based research: creating tools for meaningful knowledge translation. The visit, organised by Ms Rosalie Magboo, comprised a stunning art exhibition in the hospital atrium and a seminar which included moving poetry outputs and descriptions of the artwork reflecting patients’ experiences of cardiovascular disease. The visit was also part of the St Bartholomew’s Hospital 2023 nursing and allied professional research international series.
“It was an honour to be at St. Bartholomew’s to share the research creations from the He-ART-istic Journeys Series that interpret the narratives of individuals encountering cardiovascular disease. Through thematic poetry, song, theatre and visual mediums, art can be a healing medicine and creates a shared space where the journey through illness is co-reciprocally felt, heard, seen and experienced.” Dr Sheila O’Keefe-McCarthy
“I was humbled and privileged to connect with experts in the field of cardiovascular health, both professionally and with the expert patient and their family. The art allowed us to create connections that were pivotal for further research and patient understanding and engagement.” Dr Karyn Taplay
“I am really grateful to Dr O’Keefe-McCarthy and Dr Taplay for accepting our invitation to come to St Bartholomew’s Hospital to show their unique work of arts as a medium for knowledge mobilisation. I was delighted to be able to share the experience that I had when I visited them in Canada in 2022 to my colleagues, patients and their families in our hospital.” Mrs Rosalie Magboo